Work for Hire Agreements: Sign Before You Record | Music Career Step 57

Work for Hire Agreements: Have Everyone Sign Before You Start Recording

WORK FOR HIRE (WFH) RESOURCES:
LegalZoom.com
Cosynd.com

When you're in the recording studio, most projects start out conflict-free and everyone is on the same page about how awesome things will be.

But when money starts flowing from a project, things can get dark fast.

As I stated last week, knowing your songwriting splits before you go into the studio will reduce or remove a lot of pain and issues in the long run.

But there's one more thing you should do before you hit that record button: 

** Have everyone involved sign a Work For Hire (WFH) agreement. **

Signing a Work For Hire is an industry standard and basically states that you and your band/group, or whomever is paying for any and all upfront recording costs, own the master in perpetuity.

It also outlines who wrote the songs, or states any existing or previously agreed upon songwriting splits (see last week's email).

It's important to these things in writing to avoid "he said, she said" issues over verbal-only commitments later in the process.

It's also important to note that everyone on your recording team should sign a WFH in order to get paid. Do not pay anyone in full until they sign!

(portions of this email were borrowed or paraphrased from Emily White's "How to Build a Sustainable Music Career" book; thank you!)